Wells named as new Dubois County Community Corrections director

This story was written before the difference in pay between Wells’ current position as program director of the substance abuse services and the directorship of community corrections came to light. Wells has stated he did not know there was such a difference in pay when he applied for the position of community corrections director.

William Wells, the program director for the Dubois County Substance Abuse Services, is the new director of community corrections.

The Dubois County Community Corrections advisory board voted 13-3 Tuesday night to appoint Wells as the center’s new director over three other applicants. Wells will begin working in the new position on July 1 replacing Interim Director Jenny Fuhs who will continue to work in her former position as assistant director.

Fuhs has been the interim director of the facility since December when J.P. Weisheit stepped down.

Members of the advisory board thanked Fuhs for the work she completed while interim director. “You worked hard and put in a lot of extra time,” board member Jerry Hunefeld said to Fuhs at the meeting. “I know you have a passion for this place and it shows.”

Board president Judge Mark McConnell also thanked Fuhs for her hard work.

Wells, 59, is a U.S. Army veteran who has been the sole case manager and director of the Dubois County Substance Abuse Services since 2009. During his time with the service, Wells has been able to greatly reduce the amount of recidivism with participants. Drug Court has seen a reduction in recidivism from 55 percent to less than 10 percent among program graduates. The Court Alcohol and Drug Program has experienced a reduction in recidivism from 40+ percent to less than 15 percent, currently.

According to Wells, the move is more of a lateral move than a promotion and he said there was one reason he sought the position. “I feel it will allow me to help even more people,” he said.

Wells explained that he is looking forward to working with the talented and dedicated staff. “In particular, it is my great fortune that there are two people on the staff who collectively have supervised this facility for many years,” he said. “I will be counting heavily on the benefit of their experience. Over the past seven years, the programs under my direction have had great success in reducing recidivism among substance abuse offenders in Dubois County. I look forward to expanding upon that success in this new opportunity.”